Caine on hand for last orders

Michael Caine has signed on to play the central role in an adaptation of Graham Swift's novel Last Orders. The story follows a group of ageing companions as they journey from London to the coast in order to scatter the ashes of a dead friend. Caine will play the part of the dead man - butcher Jack Dodd - though fans will be relieved to note that the role consists of more than skulking silently inside an ornamental urn. The living, hydrated Dodd features in the film's lengthy flashback sections.

Last Orders is budgeted at £8m and will be directed by Australian film-maker Fred Schepisi. Co-starring alongside Caine are Tom Courtenay, Bob Hoskins, David Hemmings and Helen Mirren. The source novel won the Booker Prize in 1996 but ran into controversy when it was later alleged that Swift had heavily based his material on the 1929 William Faulkner tale, As I Lay Dying.

Since scooping an Oscar earlier this year, Caine has been working to a flat-out schedule. April and May found him in the east end working on a British crime caper, Shiner, while he is currently in the US shooting Miss Congeniality opposite Sandra Bullock. Last Orders is set to roll before the cameras on October 16.